--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Literature is born when something in life…" description: "\"Literature is born when something in life goes slightly adrift.\" — Simone de Beauvoir" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/simone-de-beauvoir-407_adrift_literature-is-born-when-something-in-lif_1660773.jpg" --- # Literature is born when something in life goes slightly… ![“Literature is born when something in life goes slightly adrift.” quote by Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/simone-de-beauvoir-407_adrift_literature-is-born-when-something-in-lif_1660773.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/simone-de-beauvoir-407_adrift_literature-is-born-when-something-in-lif_1660773.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/simone-de-beauvoir-407_adrift_literature-is-born-when-something-in-lif_1660773.jpg) > “Literature is born when something in life goes slightly adrift.” [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Literature emerges when life drifts, offering a way to re‑anchor experience through story. **In simple terms:** Stories help us navigate life's uncertainties. Key Takeaway Use writing to make sense of chaos. Themes literature existentialism human experience Mood reflective introspective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - journaling - novel writing - teaching Key Concepts narrative meaning‑making psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does fiction reflect personal drift? - What role does narrative play in stability? A Different Perspective Writing can oversimplify complex realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Library](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/library/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [“Literature was not born the day when a boy crying “wolf, wolf” came running out of the Neanderthal valley with a big gray wolf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislas-dehaene/literature-was-not-born-the-day-when-a-boy-crying-wolf-wolf-came-2/) [Stanislas Dehaene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislas-dehaene/) > [Modern American literature was born in protest, born in rebellion, born out of the sense of loss and indirection which was imposed upon the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-kazin/modern-american-literature-was-born-in-protest-born-in-rebellion-born/) [Alfred Kazin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-kazin/) > [It is the nature of the writer to question the validity of his world and yet rely on his senses to describe it. From…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-vandermeer/it-is-the-nature-of-the-writer-to-question-the-validity-of-his-world/) [Jeff VanderMeer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-vandermeer/) > [“All interesting literature is born in that moment when you are not sure if you are in one place with one culture,” Ms. Tawada…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-interesting-literature-is-born-in-that-moment-when-you-are-not/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Literature was not born the day when a boy crying "wolf, wolf" came running out of the Neanderthal valley with a big gray wolf…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/literature-was-not-born-the-day-when-a-boy-crying-wolf-wolf-came/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Literature takes its revenge on reality by making it the slave of fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/literature-takes-its-revenge-on-reality-by-making-it-the-slave-of/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“Driving home after her first night course at San Francisco State University, Iris was adrift in the darkness. She rarely travelled this far south…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-mofina/driving-home-after-her-first-night-course-at-san-francisco-state/) [Rick Mofina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-mofina/) > [“Be for once a white boat adrift, in debt to no lighthouse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hyde/be-for-once-a-white-boat-adrift-in-debt-to-no-lighthouse/) Robin Hyde > [How to check these unconstitutional invasions of rights by the Federal judiciary? 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It's losing the possibility of family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/losing-my-parents-really-set-me-adrift-in-more-ways-than-one-it-s-not/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [And loneliness. I should say something of loneliness. The panic, the sweeping hysteria that comes not when you are without others, but when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-thayer-hamann/and-loneliness-i-should-say-something-of-loneliness-the-panic-the/) [Hilary Thayer Hamann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-thayer-hamann/) > [And if I can't be with you I would rather have a different face And if I can't be near you I would rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-finn/and-if-i-can-t-be-with-you-i-would-rather-have-a-different-face-and/) [Neil Finn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-finn/) > [About 95% of people can be compared to ships without rudders. Subject to every shift of wind and tide, they're helplessly adrift. And while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/about-95-of-people-can-be-compared-to-ships-without-rudders-subject/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) ## More by Simone de Beauvoir > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/one-is-not-born-a-genius-one-becomes-a-genius-and-the-feminine/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Many things would be changed for Americans if they would only admit that there is ill-luck in this world and that misfortune is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/many-things-would-be-changed-for-americans-if-they-would-only-admit/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“You said something very true the other day: that for us, nudity begins with the face.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/you-said-something-very-true-the-other-day-that-for-us-nudity-begins/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“Ženama se ne rađamo, nego postajemo”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/enama-se-ne-ra-amo-nego-postajemo/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Life is occupied in both perpetuating itself and in surpassing itself; if all it does is maintain itself, then living is only not dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/life-is-occupied-in-both-perpetuating-itself-and-in-surpassing-itself/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Fathers never have exactly the daughters they want because they invent a notion a them that the daughters have to conform to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/fathers-never-have-exactly-the-daughters-they-want-because-they/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [However gifted an individual is at the outset, if his or her talents cannot be developed because of his or her social condition, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/however-gifted-an-individual-is-at-the-outset-if-his-or-her-talents/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [In fact, people seem to be tired of fiction now. There are so many other ways of exploring humanity - by ethnology, psychoanalysis, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/in-fact-people-seem-to-be-tired-of-fiction-now-there-are-so-many/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [Feminism is one way of attacking society as it now exists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/feminism-is-one-way-of-attacking-society-as-it-now-exists/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“Magari mi troverai ridicola, ma mi disprezzerei se non osassi esserlo mai”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/magari-mi-troverai-ridicola-ma-mi-disprezzerei-se-non-osassi-esserlo/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [from one minute to the next the present is merely an honorary past. It must be filled unceasingly anew to dissemble the curse it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/from-one-minute-to-the-next-the-present-is-merely-an-honorary-past-it/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [I am awfully greedy; I want everything from life. I want to be a woman and to be a man, to have many friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/i-am-awfully-greedy-i-want-everything-from-life-i-want-to-be-a-woman/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“I enjoyed my exhaustion, though; I liked overdoing things”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/i-enjoyed-my-exhaustion-though-i-liked-overdoing-things/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [“But I miss you to the point of anguish.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/but-i-miss-you-to-the-point-of-anguish/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) [Explore all 488 Simone de Beauvoir quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) ## More Adrift quotes > [And if I can't be with you I would rather have a different face And if I can't be near you I would rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-finn/and-if-i-can-t-be-with-you-i-would-rather-have-a-different-face-and/) [Neil Finn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-finn/) > [And loneliness. 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What moves at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/tell-us-what-it-is-to-be-a-woman-so-that-we-may-know-what-it-is-to-be/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Be for once a white boat adrift, in debt to no lighthouse.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hyde/be-for-once-a-white-boat-adrift-in-debt-to-no-lighthouse/) Robin Hyde > [“Driving home after her first night course at San Francisco State University, Iris was adrift in the darkness. She rarely travelled this far south…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-mofina/driving-home-after-her-first-night-course-at-san-francisco-state/) [Rick Mofina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-mofina/) > [About 95% of people can be compared to ships without rudders. Subject to every shift of wind and tide, they're helplessly adrift. And while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-nightingale/about-95-of-people-can-be-compared-to-ships-without-rudders-subject/) [Earl Nightingale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-nightingale/) > [How to check these unconstitutional invasions of rights by the Federal judiciary? Not by impeachment in the first instance, but by a strong protestation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/how-to-check-these-unconstitutional-invasions-of-rights-by-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I find myself regarding existence as though from beyond the tomb, from another world; all is strange to me; I am, as it were,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-frederic-amiel/i-find-myself-regarding-existence-as-though-from-beyond-the-tomb-from/) [Henri Frederic Amiel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-frederic-amiel/) > [“It's the story that was to big for me to tell, the one that grew to fill the depths of my being the far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-kuehn/it-s-the-story-that-was-to-big-for-me-to-tell-the-one-that-grew-to/) [Stephanie Kuehn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-kuehn/) > [“So much anger in here. So much hate. So much to take out on someone. This time it's going to count. She's adrift in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/so-much-anger-in-here-so-much-hate-so-much-to-take-out-on-someone/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [With spirit we are all children of the cosmos; Without it we are orphaned and adrift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/with-spirit-we-are-all-children-of-the-cosmos-without-it-we-are/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [She cried out into his kiss, her hands clawing his shoulders, adrift now in a pleasure that threatened to consume her. In her sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lora-leigh/she-cried-out-into-his-kiss-her-hands-clawing-his-shoulders-adrift/) [Lora Leigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lora-leigh/) > [The very concept of solid ground is a myth. The galaxy itself is adrift.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-davies/the-very-concept-of-solid-ground-is-a-myth-the-galaxy-itself-is-adrift/) [Luke Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-davies/) > [“Ever since I woke up in Faerie, I had felt sort of adrift between the two worlds. Seeing him was like finding an anchor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-lynch/ever-since-i-woke-up-in-faerie-i-had-felt-sort-of-adrift-between-the/) [Karen Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-lynch/) Browse all 93 Adrift quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Literature is born when something in life goes slightly adrift.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Simone de Beauvoir" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/literature-is-born-when-something-in-life-goes-slightly-adrift/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adrift" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/literature-is-born-when-something-in-life-goes-slightly-adrift/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/simone-de-beauvoir-407_adrift_literature-is-born-when-something-in-lif_1660773.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/simone-de-beauvoir-407_adrift_literature-is-born-when-something-in-lif_1660773.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/450/simone-de-beauvoir-407_adrift_literature-is-born-when-something-in-lif_1660773.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Literature is born when something in life goes slightly adrift.” — Simone de Beauvoir", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Simone de Beauvoir", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Literature is born when something in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/literature-is-born-when-something-in-life-goes-slightly-adrift/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/literature-is-born-when-something-in-life-goes-slightly-adrift/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```